One of the biggest problems plaguing iPhone owners is battery life. In fact, it seems that most smart phones these days just don’t have the juice to make it more than four or five hours, if you’re lucky. This has given rise to the external battery pack market. But in the case of the iPhone, none of these solutions up until now have offered the flexibility, form, and function of the Mophie Juice Pack Air.
Compatible with the iPhone 3G as well as the new iPhone 3G S, the Mophie Juice Pack Air looks like pretty much any stylish iPhone case does. It is made from a hard, black plastic that offers a smooth shine and has rounded corners which make it look almost like an actual extension of your iPhone.
Inside the unit, though, you will find a lithium polymer, 1200 mAh battery which will provide about the same amount of power as the standard iPhone 3G’s battery will, so about 4.5 hours depending on usage. The best thing about the Juice Pack Air is that the design of the case, including the size of it’s battery, does not make the phone so large it cant fit in your pocket, unlike many battery packs out there.
The drawback to this smaller size is, of course, a limit to the size of the battery Mophie could put inside it. In many battery packs, which are just too large to be practical, you get up to three days of normal usage. With the Mophie, it is only double the amount of usage time but at least you can easily carry it around – you won’t need to shell out $50 dollars on a gadget shoulder-holster just to take the thing with you.
Another thing about the Juice Pack Air is that the case actually protects your phone. Unlike the larger cases out there, the Juice Pack Air closes around you iPhone, keeping the phone locked into place. This is in contrast to the cases which act as more of a mobile cradle, with no top cap to the case at all. This has always made me nervous as I am afraid that the iPhone would fall out of the case should it drop on the ground. With this Mophie unit it is staying put.
On the back of the Juice Pack Air you will find a four LED battery pack indicator. These light up, a pleasing blue hue, in sequence denoting the amount of charge in the case battery.
Near the bottom of the case’s front you will find port holes which lead to the speaker and microphone interfaces on the bottom of the iPhone. These help to funnel the sound, into and out of the phone, to the front instead of the bottom. This is mostly because it made more sense than drilling holes into the bottom of the Juice Pack Air, where they would have to fight the battery for position.
The one thing that could be improved upon, while a minor issue, is using a more direct iPhone dock pass-through port on the bottom of the Juice Pack Air. Currently, the iPhone will dock into the case and that connection is then transmogrified into a mini-USB port on the bottom of the case. The Juice Pack Air includes a mini-USB cable for you to use but getting accustomed to bringing that cable along instead of your standard iPhone cable takes some doing.
On the brighter side, the Juice Pack Air features an on/off switch located on the bottom of the case. This allows you to choose when and where you want to let the power flow. Some people like running the iphone down first and others prefer drawing from the extra battery first – the choice is now yours.
The Mophie Juice Pack Air is available in black, purple, and white and is compatible with both the iPhone 3G and 3G S. It retails for $79.95 at Mophie’s official site.
